If You're Feeling Spiritually Stagnant, Here's What You Need to Do

This message is a challenge to that believer who feels stuck. Perhaps you've gone through a problem again and again, and you're wondering, how many more prayers am I going to have to pray before I finally see a breakthrough? Or maybe there's an issue that you're facing with your own character, a habitual sin, an ungodly attitude, certain thoughts that you know are not in alignment with the Word of God. perhaps you're facing trouble in your business trouble in ministry perhaps you're facing strain in your marriage or strain in your relationship with your children maybe there's something about your personality and character that makes it difficult for you to develop true deep and lasting connections in friendship and in fellowship and you've gone through the cycles again and again frustrated with yourself frustrated at your circumstance and you're asking yourself how many more times am I going to try before it's okay to quit? Or maybe you're already at that point and you're saying to yourself, I'm being delusional at this point because I've tried so many times to get this right. I've tried so many times to correct this mindset, this behavior, but it seems that no matter how hard I push, this door is just not opening. I want to talk to you about when frustration turns to favor. Go with me to Romans chapter seven, and we're going to begin reading at verse number 14. And as you turn now, I'll say this. Frustration comes when we can see our potential while experiencing our shortcomings. That gap is what creates the frustration. Now, Paul the apostle can identify with us because in Romans chapter 7, verse number 14, he writes this. So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I do, but if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I'm not the one doing wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. Now, verse 18, I'm going to explain. I'm going to read it, and I'm going to explain it. And I know that nothing good lives in me that is in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. Now, some people have misread what Paul has written here, and they think that he's teaching us to hate ourselves. Religion teaches you that self-hatred is holiness. Religion teaches you that the more miserable you are, the more spiritual you are. Religion wants you to view yourself as a worm groveling in the dirt, begging for God's nature. And that if you get anything from God, it's because only his goodness. And we know that's true, only his goodness. But in that, religion will tell you that you're worthless. Not according to God's standard. He saw so much worth, he's willing to die for you. Yes, because of his goodness. Yes, because of his compassion. Yes, because he's patient. But God sees what others cannot. So Paul is not saying there's nothing good in you, period. Does the Holy Spirit dwell in you? is the Holy Spirit good? Okay, so Paul is saying, nothing good dwells in my sinful nature. Continuing now that we've clarified that, verse 19, I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don't want to do, I'm not the one really doing wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life, that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart, but there's another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to sin that is still within me. Verse 24, oh, what a miserable person I am. Remember, the context is his sin nature. What a miserable person I am. Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God. The answer is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So you can see how it is in my mind. I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature, I am a slave to sin. Now, this is interesting because you can see his frustration. And with this, you and I can identify where we go through these cycles again and again. And the problem is we think that the solution is found in God changing our circumstances. Now, let me tell you, God is a God of miracles. And God is a good father who desires to give you good gifts. And God wants to bless you. And God wants to prosper you. And God wants you to be fruitful in every aspect of your life. It's why he designed you. He wants you to have dominion and power and victory over everything that would try to have victory and power over you. So we understand this. God is a good God. But what do you do when you see the promises of God yet you're not seeing those fulfilled in your life the way you want to? What is God doing when those circumstances don't align? You see, we think, God, if you just change the circumstance, you adjust everything around me, then I'll move with some spiritual momentum. But what if God is not trying to change the circumstance? What if he's more concerned with developing your character? Again, yes, God is good. Yes, he desires to bless you. Yes, we should live fruitful lives. But many times we think that God needs to change the circumstance alone. The problem isn't always the circumstance. Sometimes it's that you haven't developed into someone who God can entrust with the next level of responsibility. Now look at Luke chapter 2 verse 52. I want to show you something astounding here. I want to show you what I consider to be the four foundations of life. Paul experienced frustration with himself and his sin nature. and you and I experience frustration likewise, but in various different aspects of life. Luke chapter two, verse 52. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and in favor with man. The four foundations of life. Wisdom, stature, favor with God, favor with man. Wisdom. Wisdom is mental maturity. Wisdom is emotional maturity. Wisdom is how you handle your finances, how you run your business, how you handle the disciplines of life, how you set your schedule, stature. This is the physical body. When Luke is describing Jesus growing in stature, he's describing Jesus's growth from a young child to becoming a man. And I promise you, Jesus was healthy. Favor with God. This is the one where we primarily focus on, isn't it? Nothing wrong with that. But when we come to church, we primarily think of favor with God. That's your prayer life. your devotion to the word, your relationship with the Holy Spirit, your exercising of the spiritual gifts, and then favor with man. These are your relationships, your marriage. What kind of spouse are you? Your children, what kind of parent are you? And what kind of son or daughter are you? Your friendships, what kind of friend are you? The family of God, what kind of believer are you in the context of church relationships? And so we need to see growth in all these areas, but we will also see frustration in all these areas. So let's break some of these down. Wisdom. Many believers are spiritually fit, but they're lacking in wisdom. Did you know it's possible to be spiritually dynamic, but emotionally underdeveloped? It's possible to be greatly gifted at the prophetic, yet be mentally lazy. And did you know it's possible to pray in tongues and practice bad money habits? Wisdom has to do with all of these different aspects of life that we consider only earthly But as a born-again believer you were designed for dominion You were designed to have dominion over finances. Jesus says you can't serve both God and money But many of us are enslaved to money not because we have a lot of it But because what little we have controls us buying things we don't need Practicing poor money habits and then excusing it or not being developed emotionally but we can prophesy but then we can't regulate our anger we can exercise spiritual gifts we can explain the truth of scripture but we can't get a hold of our little pity parties that we throw nobody wants to come to a pity party stop throwing them christians who say they're victorious over the devil yet can feel sorry for themselves every day emotionally underdeveloped for example we think of laziness when i say laziness most of us think of the person in bed they slept in or they should be at work, but they're on the couch. Or they have chores to do and work to do and errands to run, but they decide to let everyone else around them do it. That's part of it. That's a form of laziness. But you know, there's also mental laziness, where if it's too many decisions to be made, we just check out. That's why some of you don't text people back and you're being rude. Love is not rude. I'm not going to look over here. I'm going to look just at the ceiling when I say this. I'll look at the camera. That's to no one in particular. Where we're so lazy because we don't want to make decisions or plans. So instead of texting someone back, we just leave it. Laziness. Or we see a problem before us and it takes too much mental energy to try to figure that problem out. So we just give up and we procrastinate. Chaos occurs. And then we say, Lord, what's happening? You didn't plan your life. You didn't plan your schedule. You didn't practice wisdom. You didn't run your business according to wisdom. You didn't run your finances according to wisdom. You didn't regulate your emotions according to wisdom. You didn't align your thoughts with the thoughts of wisdom. Oh, but we can prophesy. Oh, but you should see me when I'm worshiping. Spiritual, yes. In favor with God, yes. But don't forget wisdom. And so some of us are frustrated because we have these character issues, emotional issues, mental issues. We're difficult and stubborn. We complain all the time. How many of you know someone who complains all the time is emotionally underdeveloped? They don't have the strength and the stamina to think biblically and positively about circumstance, easily thrown into complaint, lacking emotional intelligence. The second foundation, stature. Say, Holy Spirit, help me receive it. You know, the way you take care of your body matters to God. Now, when I say that, most Christians just think sex and they speak against it. Good. Sex outside of marriage is a sin. Amen? Someone said, well, it's 2026. I said, truth does not change. The word of God is the word of God. Okay. So what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? You don't belong to yourself. Christians should be the healthiest. You believe that this earth suit was given to you from God himself as a gift. He loans it to you so you can experience this life. And then how do you take care of it? Now, as a caveat, I want to say that there are some who experience sickness and disease that's completely outside of their control. And that happens. What I am saying is that as much as is in your power, you ought to take care of the physical body. You know what I've learned? Some of the heaviest attacks that I experience spiritually come when I am the most exhausted. Well, look in the scripture. The prophet Elijah, he just kind of goes to the wayside, says no one else is serving God. I'm the only one. It was a little pity party. He says, Lord, just take my life. And the Lord basically says, just have a nap and have something to eat. That solved his problem. And we run exhausted because religion is chasing us and we feel condemned for resting when God prescribed it. And we say, oh, the devil's attacking me. The devil's attacking me. I don't feel so good. Well, if you're running on only four hours of sleep a night, I just feel something's off. I discern and that something is off. I feel it. It's this heaviness on me. And they're saying, it's the devil. I say, no, it's McDonald's. The way you eat affects the way you feel. You can say amen again. The way you eat affects the way you feel. Take care of the physical body. You know that the devil will use your exhaustion. The devil will use your lack of energy. The devil will use all of those physical things that weigh you down as an open door for his attack because the body and the mind are interconnected. He says, man, this weight of depression won't leave. Sometimes it's purely mental, but you know, sometimes you're contributing to that, to the way you don't take care of your physical body. It's spiritual to care for your body. The Holy Spirit wants to help you, not just to pray and to prophesy. Those are wonderful things, but the Holy Spirit wants to help you lose the weight. I said, the Holy Spirit wants to help you lose the weight. You say, I can't do it. With the Holy Spirit's help, you can. I say shame off of you because shame actually makes you dig deeper into that lifestyle. No shame on you. You can do this. The Holy Spirit will give you the strength. You say, well, I don't know if I'm able. The choice is yours. Choices have consequences. You need to take responsibility for how you care for your physical being. A wonderful man of God once told me, he said, David, you take care of your body because if you don't, you'll die young. And then God will judge you for every soul you should have won while you were still alive. I was only like 14 when he told me that, but I took it to heart. These are the types of fathers we need in the church today. Someone say that's too harsh. No, it's true. Your diet matters and it affects your spiritual life. If you're overweight, that'll affect your spiritual life and what you can do for God. There was a, there was a gentleman who used to travel with our ministry. He so enjoyed it. He loved it. He had to stop because he was so overweight. He could not continue with us. Now, of course he's fixed it since then, but there was a challenge for him in that season. And so your physical body gives you the capacity to function in this earthly realm. Drink the water that God provided. Eat correctly. Be at a proper weight. Exercise. I don't want to exclude women here, but I want to talk to the men. You realize that how you lead your home matters? Do you realize that you are setting the standard for who your sons want to become and who your daughters will want to marry? We have a heavy responsibility, men of God to lead properly in our homes. And you are going to be the one that sets the standard. So lead well and follow after wisdom and health. It is not unspiritual. That's a lie of the enemy. Get on a good sleep schedule. Master food. Don't let it master you. That's all gluttony is. It's the lack of self-control with food. How much is too much? It depends because I know guys who are like this tall, they can only eat so much. I know guys who are like this tall and for the other guy would be gluttony, but then the other guy's starving with that meal. All it is is that you don't have mastery over it, that it controls you. That's what gluttony is. And by the way, that's mentioned in the New Testament, guys. Favor with God. This is the third foundation. We have spirituality, that's prayer, that's the word. And some are frustrated here because they can't establish that foundation of devotion, or they're inconsistent in the word, they're inconsistent in prayer, and they're frustrated with themselves, wondering how they're going to breakthrough. And this is where I'm telling you, you have to continue to apply all that you can apply. I know you're frustrated. I know sometimes it feels as though you're not making any progress in these areas, but you have two choices. One, you can just quit and never experience breakthrough, or you can keep going and eventually get it right. That's it. Those are the two choices we have. And I don't know about you, but I'm not just going to lie down and let the enemy take anything that I was meant to give to God. I want to be able to stand before God one day and say, Lord, I did everything that I could to serve you by your grace. Hold nothing back from him. Number four, this is relationship, favor with man. Now I'm really going to challenge you, okay? And I want you to know I'm challenging you because I love you. I'm giving you these truths from scripture because these truths will bring correction that will ultimately produce life. if your marriage is out of order don't even talk to me about how spiritual you are you can teach you can preach you can prophesy you can pray in tongues cast out devils but the word declares man you don't treat your wife right god's not going to hear your prayers that's what the bible says i remember one time jess and i got into an argument wasn't a super serious one just a minor disagreement but i remember that i had said something very harshly now if you know me my tone doesn't always match my mood. I just have a very, she said, when we first got married, she says, you're like a robot who I'm teaching to love. Like, like you have a very just precise way of communicating. And I had to learn to soften my tone. And so I remember after this disagreement, we settled it. I went to pray. I'm praying. I don't feel the flow like I normally do. God wasn't necessarily ignoring me. The Holy spirit didn't leave me, but I just didn't feel that, that punch to the prayer life that I usually feel. And so I said, Lord, like what is going on? He says, remember earlier when you had that argument with your wife? I said, yes. He says, well, your tone was too harsh and you hurt her feelings. And I said, okay, I'll go apologize. So I leave the prayer room. I go apologize to Jess. I said, Jess, my dear, remember earlier when we talked? She said, oh yeah, I remember. I said, okay, well, I was too harsh. I'm sorry for my tone. Please forgive me. And she starts to laugh. I said, what's so funny? She says, well, you know, I didn't want to nag you and bother you about it. So I just told God and then he told you. but that connection with God should affect our connection with each other. And I'm not just talking about marriage. Parents, one of the greatest indicators that the faith will not be passed on to the next generation is hypocrisy in the home. Parents gossip about the pastor, gossip about the church, complaining about everything, and then they wonder why their kids grow up hating the church. Your relationship in your marriage matters. Your relationship with your children matters. Your duty as a friend is to be a Christian friend. Now, especially in this generation, because we are so disconnected. This is something I focus on a lot when I preach and I talk about relationships because people don't talk about it a lot. Because in this generation, people just, especially young men, we don't think we need friendships. It's a lie. It's pride. It's ego. You were designed for community, not just in marriage, but in a church body. You need to be challenged. Iron sharpens iron, the scripture says. What does that mean? It talks about the conflict and the contention that takes place when two people connect. I'm convinced of this and I can't necessarily prove this with scripture. So here's my, I'm going to give you my opinion in this next phrase. Okay. But, but in my observation, in terms of how I've seen the Lord do it, it seems to me that God will pair you with the spouse, with the children, and with the friends who most challenge you in the areas where you're underdeveloped. So if you have an issue with insecurity, you're gonna be connected with someone who's real blunt. If you have an issue with impatience, you're gonna be connected with someone who really likes to take their time. If you have an issue with discipline, you're gonna be married to a militant and vice versa. But I also believe this, that the people whose flaws are most contentious with one another's when they're at their best and in the spirit, make the best pairs, make the best marriages, make the best friendships, make the best interconnections within the body of Christ. Because people will challenge you in the area you are least like Jesus. And so maybe you're experiencing frustration in these areas. And as I talk about these different aspects of life, you're saying, yeah, I haven't quite closed that gap. These are all areas that will produce frustration in us. But frustration is proof that there's a desire in you to reach your full potential in Christ. My prayer for you in Encounter Church, and for those of you watching, is that you would reach the fullness of your potential in Christ. Yes, that you would flow in your spiritual gifts. and yes, that you would teach and preach the word and yes, that you would evangelize with boldness and yes, that you would walk in holiness. But more than that, that you would be a good spouse. You would be a good parent. You would be a good friend. You would take care of your physical body. You would walk in the truth of being more than a conqueror. That you would have dominion, power and authority and fruitfulness and abundance in every aspect of life. That nothing would master you, but that you would walk in divine authority submitting yourself to the work of the Holy Spirit saying you are the potter, I am the clay. And sometimes it's not what God is turning us into that frustrates us, it's how he forms us. We want the result, but we despise the process. When it comes to divine promotion, breakthrough and reaching new levels, let me tell you, it's gonna take more than you think. But faithfulness turns today's frustration into tomorrow's favor. The desire to quit doesn't primarily come from the problem itself, but from the persistence of the problem. That's the real battle because it takes mental endurance to say, I'm going to try again after the thousandth time to always treat the next try as the first try. Well, how many plagues did it take Pharaoh to finally let God's people go? And how many times did Joshua and the Israelites have to march around the walls of Jericho to finally see those walls come down? And how long did the disciples have to fish before they finally came to Jesus who said, do it one more time, and their nets came back full. Think of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. They're beginning something new, and Cain murders Abel? And if you read their lineage, you'll see that in the book of Genesis, their lineage just kind of starts over again, because God will give you the grace for the first time after the last time, and then the time after that, and then the time after that. The Holy Spirit is more patient with you than you are with yourself. Lamentations 3, 22 and 23 says, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Philippians 1, 6 declares, and I am certain that God who began the good work within you will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Jesus Christ returns. I don't know how many more times you're going to have to try to get it right. I don't know how many more times you're going to have to pray about it. I don't know how much more frustrated with yourself you can get. I don't know how many more mistakes you're going to make. I don't know how many more days are going to pass before things finally align. But I do know in whom we have believed. And I do know that he who began the work is faithful to complete it. So Father, in the name of Jesus, I lift your people to you today. And I ask you to give them grace upon grace, that they might go from glory to glory. Teach them to believe and to persevere despite the frustration. Teach them to believe even when things don't look so good. Help them to break the cycle in every area of life. Help them to grow as you did in wisdom, in stature, in favor with God, and in favor with man. Help us do it, precious Holy Spirit. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And the church said, and you type it in the comment section if you believe it, type a big Amen.